Electric heater for oil-wells.



0. B. LINQUEST. ELECTRIC HEATER FOR OIL WELLS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 29, 1909.-

Patented May 10,1910.

- ATTOR N EY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OSCAR B. LINQUEST, OE JAMESTOWN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOARGHIBALD F. RUSSELL. OF LAKEWOOD NEW YORK.

ELECTRIC HEATER FOR OIL-WELLS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 10, 1910..

Application filed June 29, 1909. Serial No. 505,021.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OSCAR B. LIN UEST, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Jamestown, county of Chautauqua, State of. New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Heatersfor Oil-Veils, of which the following is a full clear, and exactdescription.

My invention relates to means for heating oil wells for the purpose ofcleaning accumulated deposits of paratiinfrom the interior of such wellsand more particularly my invention relates to an electric heater for thepurpose just stated.

It is Well known that after oil wells have been flowing for some length.of time the crevices in the oil bearing strata of rocks become more orless clogged with paratlin deposits which interfere with the flow of thewells.

v The general object of my invention is to provide a means for removingthe paralliu when so deposited and thus to provide a practicable andetiicient means for increasing the flow of the well.

Various methods have been suggested for heating wells for the purposesdescribed bzi these devices have been lacking in elticicncy of operationand .cheapness ot manufacture and use. I

My invention provides .an cfiicient. and cheapmeansfor effectivelyheating any oil well so as to remove the paraiiin deposits in it;moreover it is simple and cheap in construction and likewise cheap inoperation.

The many advantages resulting from the use of my invention will be clearto those skilled in the art from the acconnoanying drawings and thefollowing description.

Referring to the drawings: Figure 1v is a sectional view/oi? the casingof my device and an elevation of the heating element. Fig. 2 a sectiontaken on the line w of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a. section taken on the line yy of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line of Fig 1. Fig. 5 isa. section til-litl'i on the line o'l Fig. '1.

It will be understood that my device is to be lowered in any suitableway into any desired part oi the well. It is in general provided with atubular casing 1 which is dc signed to pass within the casing or otherconlincs oi the well. The casing 1 is open at its top and bottom ends sothat oil contained in the well may pass within the said casing 1.

Suitably secured to the lower end of the casing l is a strap iron 2. Asimilar strap iron is secured to the upper end or the casing 1. Suitableiron rods 4 pass through the strap irons 2 and 3 and are secured bymeans of nuts 5 or in any other suitable way. On these rods are mountedgrooved porcelain tubes (3. The porcelain tubes (3 ext/endsul'istantially all of the distance between the strap irons 2 and 3andpreferably they are made up of short sections but I do not wish tolimit n'iyselt to this particular arrangement. The advantage of thisconstruction is that it gives flexibility to the tubes. The tubesections are suitably grooved at predetermined spaces from each otherfor the pur 'iose o'l" receiving a resistance wire for conducting theelectric current.

011 the iron rods 4 1' preferably mount three nuts 5, 7 and 8; the nuts8 acting to hold the grooved porcelain tubes in place; between the nuts7 and the nuts 8 I place rings 9 and the nuts 7 and 5 are placed oneither side ot the strap irons 2 and Through the ring 3) are passed rods10. Upon the rods '10 l mount grooved porcelain tubes of thesamecharacter and in the same way as the grooved porcelain tubes aremounted on the rods 1. Although I have shown in my drawings tour ironrods on which these grooved porcelain tubes are mounted it will beumlorstoml that. I do not wish to confine myself to the exact number andarrangement of rods and tubes as herein shown but it is obvious that twoor more tubes could be arranged tor accomplishing the purposesl'accon'iplish by the device herein dcscribml.

.\t suitable distances along the length of the tubes 4' and 10 Ipreferably place spacers 11 which are/notched on their edges so as tolit around the tubes 4 and 10. The function of those spacers is to keepthe said tubes in their propr-r relation to each other. Preterably thesespacers also are perforated at 13 so as to allow the electric leadingwire to pass tln'ough them. Obviously the numbcr 0t spacers to be usedwill depend on the length of the heater element.

At the upper end of the casing l arr: nge a terminal block lei. which issecured in any suitable way to the bail 15 of the casing.

This bail 15 is secured by rivets or otherwise at 16 to the side wallsof the casing. Pass ing through the terminal block are electricalconnectors 17 which are secured in place in said block by means of setscrews 18..

Lead wires 19and 20 passinto the connectors 17 and are held in placetherein by means of the set screws 18. The wire 20 leads from one of theconnectors 17 through a porcelain bushing 21. This bushing 21 passesthrough the top strap 3 and is held in place by it. The lead wire 20then passes in the space between the porcelain tubes 4: and 10 andthrough one or more of the spacers 11 to the bottom of the heating ele-17 and is there held in place by means of the set screws 18 in a mannersimilar to the means described for holding in place the end of the wire20. The electric connections 24: and 25 for the conductors 19 and 20lead from the electric connectors 17 in which they are secured in theterminal block l t by means of the set screws 18. -These connectingwires may lead to a generator or any other suitable source or" energy.

Having thus described the several parts of my invention I will nowdescribe its method of operation. The generated current is turned on tothe wires leading from the source of energy and it then passes throughthefollowing circuit: wire 24, connect or 17, lead Wire 20, resistancewinding 22, lead wire 19, connector 17, wire 25, back to the source ofenergy. through the heating element composed of the resistance wire 22wound about the grooved porcelain tubes acts to produce an amount ofheat which is proportional to the resistance of the resistance wires andthe amount of current passing through the circuit. The heat thusgenerated acts upon the oil which is in immediate contact with theheating element. This generated heat is suiiicient to raise thetemperature of the oil enough so that the paraiiin deposits anywhere inthe well near the heating element will be atii'ected so that they willbecome soft and be dissolved in the oil. l Vhen the paraflin has thusbeen broken down the oil is bailed out of the well and thus the crevicesare cleared and the clogged portion of the well allows a greater iiow ofoil than was previously possible.

It will be evident from the foregoing d Scription that my invention canbe ve.

This current passing est/sea cheaply and efiiciently operated and thatit is capable of some variations and modifications which would begoverned by varying conditions under which it might be used. I do not,therefore, wish to be limited to the exact construction herein shown anddescribed.

The gist of my invention resides in the fact that I have provided anelectrical means of heating an oil well by placing my heater in directcontact with the oil and thus raising the temperature of the oil to adegree suficient to dissolve paraffin found in the crevices of the well.With this in mind, it will be evident that some departures from thespecific construction herein shown and described might be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention.

Comparing my invention with those de vices which are used'tor heatingoil wells where the heating element is contained within a water-tight oran air-tight case it will be evident that the length of life of myheating element will be much greater than that of the heating elementcontained in such tight cases. This is so because of the fact that thewires contained in the tight cases must be sufficiently heated so thatthe casing as well as the oil will be heated, while in my form ofheating device, the oil being in direct contact with the wires, thewires are thus kept partially cooled by the oil and the heat is directlytaken up by the oil so that the resistance wire in my device need not beas large as is necessary in another device of the inclosed type of thesame heating capacity.

Having thus described my invention, wha t I claim. is:

1. An electric heater for oil Wells com-- prising two or more insulatingtubes, means for spacing these tubes apart from each other, a resistanceWire wound around said tubes, means for conducting a current from anysuitable source of energy through said resistance wire, and means forlowering and raising said tubes and wires in any desired position in anoil well.

An electric heater for oil wells comprising grooved p'orceluin tubes,means for spacing said tubes apart from each other, a resistance 'wiresurrounding said tubes, a tubular casing open atv the top and bottomsurrounding said tubes, a bail for raising and lowering said tubes andcasing into and out of an oil well, and means for conducting a currentfrom some suitable electric source of energy. through said resistancewire.

3. An electric heater for oil wells comprising grooved porcelain tubes,means for spacing said tubes apart from each other. a rc sistauce wiresurrounding said tubes, a tu bular casing open at the topaud bottomsurroimding said tubes, a bail for raising .idlowering said tubes andcasing into and out of an oil well, a terminal block secured to saidbail, means for connecting wires from any suitable source of electricenergy with said resistance wire.

4. An electric heater for oil wells comprising grooved porcelain tube's,a casing open at top and bottom, means for securing said tubes in placein said casing, a resistance Wire surrounding said tubes, a bail securedto said casing, electric connectors secured in said bail, insulated Wireleads leading from said connectors to the terminals of said resistanceWire, means for securing the ends of said Wire leads in said connectorsf and means for securing wires from any suitable source of energy insaid connectors. 5. An electric heater for oil Wells comprising groovedporcelain tubes, means for spacing. said tubes apart from each other, aresistance wire surrounding said tubes, means for connecting saidresistance Wire with a suitable source of electric energy, and means forraising and lowering said elements into and 'out of an oil Well wherebythe said elements are brou ht into direct contact with"the oil of thewell and thus heat the same.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twowitnesses.

OSCAR B. LINQ UEST.

Witnesses 1 ARCHIBALD F. RUSSELL, JA MES A. RUSSELL.

